Buying new Macbook pro for gaming, what do you think?

I have compared many laptops, and ended up with XPS, and the new toshiba with the 8700. but after seeing allot of benchmark where the cpu created a bottleneck for the graphic card, i decided to look for a decent card and higher cpu, so i noticed that the new Macbook pro has 2.4ghz and ddr3 8600, so i went to the XPS and matched the price wich ended 200$ cheaper....

But then again, xps is....vista......

so my questions ends in..

Do you think the macbook pro for 2k is well worth it for games?

do i have to find a driver for 8600 geforce to work on a windows xp running on bootcamp?

Do you think having a mac OS is even better for gaming?

Please convince me that buying a macbook pro will be the best damn thing i could buy.

P.S.: i just noticed this was not the correct forum to ask this, BUT then again, i still want to know the benefits or cons of using a mac os

 

The catalogue of MacOS-native games is almost negligibly small compared to the windows/directx archive. So you are going to need to double-boot Windows and MacOS X should you decide to get an MBP and play games on it.

And, well, if it's down to a $200 difference, I'd say go for Mac.

(But of course, you also need to purchase Windows, if you want to play games----"Bootcamp", which you'll need to install/double-boot Windows comes as a component of Leopard.)

 

What type of games are you expecting to play? If your planning on playing games at the level of Crysis then I would stick to a desktop. The biggest disadvantage I see with the macbook pro under windows is the different keyboard layout and the trackpad doesn't work so well.

 

Coming down to a measly $200 difference I'd say go for the Mac. Hell, if you're a college/university student you can get those $200 discounted. I use my Mac to game too... in Windows of course, and the 256mb card does it well.

Having OS X isn't better for gaming... generally multiplatform (OS X and Windows) games have better performance in Windows than OS X.

Con is you need to provide your own Windows install CD.

Benefits.... OS X itself, IMO is a great OS. I've come to the point where I only use Windows for one reason: gaming, since the OS X library of games is pitifully small, and I've been a Windows-only users (heck even a Mac basher ) until about 4 months ago. It's simple, stable, very fast, and I find it's well organized. It also just looks great.... and a MBP has a great screen, keyboard, and pretty solid (although very hot) case.

The only difference on the keyboard from a standard PC (that I can see) is the option(windows/apple) key and ALT are reversed.

 

I would say anything up to now, sadly i never got around in playing new games on pc, and when i say new, i mean like 2004+, so i am use in playing at low detail and laggy.

Well i was considering that for mayor gaming, but then, life at the university, need laptop badly especially when i am working with C++ programming.

apparently is only for USA, but there are some apple stores around here in Puerto Rico.

I am planning on using a wireless logitech mouse, but how does the keyboard layout affect when in gamming.

Thats what i was thinking, that perhaps As a operating system for university studies and work, mac is better(although never seen mac os, only in retails displays)

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thanks guys so far you been really helpful

 

If your mouse has buttons you might want to map ALT to one of them, since it's a bit of a pain to reach, not being right near the space bar.

 

I ended up going with the MBP over others for the versatility of the dual boot (OS X and XP Pro) , if your playing older stuff youll be just fine. Doom 3 I have set at Ultra with 2xAA and framerate stays at 60, CS:S everything max 2xAA 4xAF and fps is usually above 100. I have yet to try newer stuff like CoD4 but Ive read it can handle games like that too. Im satisfied with the performance out of mine so far

 

by the way, whats the bus speed on the mac(if that affects games), i couldn't find it on the website.

i am excited to see that it runs doom 3 on ultra high, i have done i allot of studying of what the 8600m gts can play, and apparently it plays everything(always there might be something stronger than crysis on medium)

also what does AA mean in games

 

Front Side Bus speed? They're 800 MHz on all the Mac notebooks.

 

Im not sure if they changed it on the updated ones, but my FSB is 800mhz, and by AA I mean anti-aliasing.

 

What sort of thing are you looking for out of this laptop? Do you need portability or merely something you can carry?

The Macbook doesn't even compare to an XPS or Alienware in terms of gaming but you may find it more practical to carry around with you.

 

$2000 is my max, i am guessing when you said xps you meant the 17" cause the 15" if configured matches macbook pro.

so for the 2k, the macbook pro would be the best

 

I did, yes.

Personally, I believe that the XPS is the better choice being both cheaper, including better support and likely better build quality. However, discarding personal bias, yes, I wouldn't say the Macbook Pro is the *better* choice but it's certainly no worse.

 

Build quality was great on my MBP (built week 47). No dead pixels, no scratches, also my LCD doesn't have the "yellowing" I've read about on the 15" models. Don't let them scare you off on that.

As for Apple's support, haven't needed to use it and hopefully dont have to. Everything has worked without a hitch so far, much better than I can say about other PC's I've used.

 

I can say nothing in relation to MBP build quality but I can say that that aluminium casing will not be as durable as the magnesium alloy used in Dell's notebooks.

As for support, I will not comment except to say that I have never seen anything quite so incredible as the support on my Latitudes.

Again, this is just my (probably biased) opinion. They MBP will match the XPS in performance an OSX is, argubly, a better OS except that you will likely spend a lot of time booting between different OS.

 

Everything about Apple support is really great except for the fact that their phone support isn't 24 hours (8am-8pm in Canada... I think less in the US) and they only offer onsite repairs for desktop Macs. As for boot times, OS X and XP can boot up pretty quick on a Macbook Pro. I have a couple of issues with the build quality of mine though.

And AA in games = Anti-aliasing. Basically if you look at the edges of things in 3D games you can see they seem blocky due to being made out of square pixels on the screen. AA basically smoothes edges out and makes everything look a bit nicer.

 

if you need a good gaming laptop,look at gateway fx (don`t remembe the full name) it has 8800gts,250 gb hard drive,3 gb ram and a lot place to grow,and it is very cheep- just 1350$

 

I think the mbp is perfect for what you need. Gaming on the previous 128mb 8600 is still pretty good, and it only gets better with the 256.

Someone mentioned before the keyboard layout is a bit off for gaming and yea it is. The fn and control keys are swapped from normal laptops (fn is the outside key), it takes some getting used to, but you can get used to it (or just use external keyboard/display).

As for The Generals comments about better build quality and such on the XPS lineup, I dunno. I remember reading a ton of readers complaints about dead pixels, dead batteries, and other problems, that they had to go through a couple of replacement laptops and still had the problems.

So yea, Id say get a MBP, you really wont regret it.

 

after reading allot of game review benchmarks, doesn't the 1.67 ghz processor for that machine create a bottleneck for the graphic card?

EDIT: i just found this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220216 same specs as mbp ecept....500 less....still......you think vista could affect that much when in gaming?, cause i plan on using XP for the games and learn to use mac for works

Now i want to rip my hair off, i thought mbp was the best one for the price, now this Asus apears with the same specs and ddr3 graphic card and is 500 less!

 

From what I've heard, yes it is: Apple support is high standard for consumers, Dell XPS is business standard, that's the real difference.

Yeah, I was merely commenting that he may find the frequent switching slightly anonying.

I had a minor issue with a machine not automatically going into standby when the lid was close. This was a minor thing that probably only required the covering in front of the keyboard being replaced, they replaced the keyboard because there was some dirt under it, the screen backing because it was a bit scratched and the motherboard just for good measure; All this was done the day after I called them.

Vista will use more resources, meaning you take a performance hit. XP will be more efficient but some of the latest games may only run on Vista (only examples I know of are games made by Microsoft, anyone surprised?)

 

What are some games you guys play on your mac?

 

I play A LOT of CoD4.... and used to play Gears of War until the constant crashing got to a point where I couldn't even continue it (horrible port btw). Both on high settings 30+ FPS.

 

I love and Breathe Apple products especially the Macbook Pros and the Mac Pros BUT if you want to buy a laptop or spend 2k + strictly for gaming, I would just build or buy a pc. I cant believe myself saying get a pc. I hate pc's but if its strictly for pc gaming get a pc.

 

But then I do know the love of using (dual boot) back to osx for everything else!